Existing weld overlay materials may often be considered macrocomposites, which may be developed by starting with hard particles that may include carbides (e.g., WC, VC, Cr3C2, Cr23C6, TiC, HfC, etc.), borides (e.g., TiB2, ZrB2, etc.), borocarbides (e.g., M(BC)2, M(BC)3, M23(BC)6, etc.), nitrides (e.g., BN, TiN, AN, etc.), and/or other specific hard phases like diamond, etc. and incorporating the hard particles at various volume fractions (i.e. typically 15 to 65%) into an appropriate binder, which may include a nickel (or nickel alloy) based binder, a cobalt (or cobalt alloy) based binder, or an iron (or iron alloy) based binder. The binder may provide a matrix to hold the hard particles by wetting the particle surface sufficiently so that it may be captured while not completely dissolving. The binder may also provide a measure of toughness/crack resistance to enable the composite to perform adequately in service.